The Laws Of Life
by Keekee101
Summary: Bella is a headstrong, beautiful lawyer with a history that has left her cynical about romance and men that come her way. Content in her bubble of work and friends, the last thing she needs is something new to pop it. Or someone new. With intrusive friends, an annoyingly fixated boss and stirring feelings arising, will she stay so pessimistic about love? AH ExB
1. Chapter 1

**Bella is a headstrong, beautiful lawyer with a history that has left her cynical about romance and men that come her way. Content in her bubble of work and friends, the last thing she needs is something new to pop it. Or someone new. With intrusive friends, an annoyingly fixated boss and stirring feelings arising, will she stay so pessimistic about love? AH ExB**

* * *

_**The Laws Of Life - ****I don't own twilight.**_

_"The inability to open up to hope is what blocks trust, and blocked trust is the reason for blighted dreams." - Elizabeth Gilbert_

**Chapter 1**

_Fridays. _It is the day you anticipate all week, yet when you get there, you find it harder to roll out of bed than any other day - Well, maybe not Monday. Friday is the day you set for the manicure, the teeth cleaning, the pap smear...But then decide that you'd rather lay on the couch with a bowl of ice-cream while watching bad reality television than have a middle aged man stare at your vagina while your legs are up in the stirrup things at the Gynecologists. It is the day coffee tastes it's absolute best.

I trudged down the hallway shortly after waking up, my fluffy cream colored robe was tied and keeping me toasty warm in the winter weather. It was February in Seattle, which meant the weather was frigid in its coldness. I stopped at the end of the hall, turning the knob of the heating switch to make the apartment feel less like the Antarctic.

I lived in a nice two bedroom, one bathroom apartment in Queen Anne. The building was originally a gorgeous, North-western mansion which was converted into several apartments a few years before I moved into it. I loved the look of it physically and enjoying having neighbours that weren't rowdy or partied hard.

Entering the quaint kitchen, I spotted my room-mate pouring herself a cup of coffee. "Oh, me too please Ali." I asked her, opening a cupboard and handing her a mug from it for me.

Alice and I had been close friends for a while now, we met on my first day working as a real lawyer about a year and a half ago. Alice had only been working there two months as an assistant, we formed an immediate bond - Though, originally through our mutual dislike of most of the other women working at the firm.

Another thing that Alice and I had bonded over was that we both had a fairly rough childhood, her father Lucas was an acquired taste for sure, and by that I mean that he was a complete _asshole_. He was a highly religious nutjob that believed that a woman's place was in the kitchen and that their worth only depended on how well they took care of men.

Alice had never fell into the _status quo_ of how Lucas expected her to be. She always wanted to have her hair short, her parents made her keep it long. She loved fashion but was made to wear her sisters modest hand-me-downs, even though they could have easily afforded it. She led a highly repressed childhood and was forced to live under the glory of her sister Cynthia. Cynthia was the 'golden child' and did everything she was told by their father, with an excessively polite beam to boot.

Poor Alice would constantly be compared to her. And let me tell you, I had only met Cynthia once but she was a bitch _and_ not as pure as her parents thought...Alice told me that she had gotten married in a September and had her first child in the following April. She swore up and down that she was a virgin until she married Richard...Did Lucas and Helena even do the math?

Alice now only ever saw them on religious holidays, their relationship was rocky at best. But she had me and our friend Emmett at least.

"Do it yourself woman, I'm no barista." We were like siblings, and siblings could be bitchy in the morning.

I shook my head at her, pouting. The pout always worked. "Damn you." She said simply, taking the mug from my hand and filling it to the brim with the rich, brown liquid. I smiled in thanks and took a mouth full.

Making my way to the fridge, I opened it with my free hand. I stared into it for a few moments, not sure what to make. Taking a quick look at the expiry date of the eggs we had, I decided that they should be used. French toast was on the menu. I collected the other ingredients and picked some fresh parsley from the small herb bush on the windowsill. For subjecting Alice to the pout, I thought I would be nice and make her some too.

We ate quickly while chatting drowsily before I headed back to my room to get ready for work.

We worked at _Hale, Talbot & Associates_, a adequately sized family law firm in Belltown. I was still fairly new to the law game but had learned a thing or two in my short amount of time as a lawyer. I had grown in my proverbial lady balls.

Thanking myself for being an evening shower-er, I proceeded to get ready for the day. I cleansed, toned and moisturized my skin and ran a straightener through my hair quickly.

I searched through my closet for something to wear, agreeing with myself that I would make use of my warmest trench coat today. As for my outfit, I chose an Ivory three quarter sleeve body-con dress that clung to my curves while still gliding at the knee modestly enough to be appropriate for the office. I matched it with a chocolate brown leather belt and brown, snakeskin-esque pumps. I slid on my silver watch, simple bracelet and round, diamond earrings before sitting down at my vanity to do my makeup.

I added a little primer, concealer and powder to set it all along with a natural blush shade to my cheeks. I used several neutral shades of eye shadow to my lids mostly champagne and taupe, ran a line of black liquid liner across my top lids and brushed my favorite black mascara through my lashes. I had always loved my eyes, they were a unique shade of brown and had exceptionally long lashes. I decided on a nice rosy-blush color for my lips and moved on to my vanilla and jasmine scented perfume, spritzing on a little to my neck and wrists.

Throwing on my favorite royal red trench coat, I picked up my cell phone, briefcase and purse and headed out to my car. Alice and I didn't drive to work together often, we had separate errands to do after work sometimes and I would have to labor on in the office, completely covered in files a few times a week.

I waved to a random neighbour as I passed them, making myself look busy by stuffing my hands into my leather gloves to avoid conversation with them. I wasn't anti-social by any means, I just forgot what their name was and didn't want to seem rude.

The owners of the building had build a garage for the tenants at the back of the building, which was appreciated for the car I bought only six months ago. I turned on the heat immediately after getting into the vehicle, and was thankful that the inevitable rain hadn't started yet.

I drove swiftly to work, in the Seattle morning traffic it was of high import to get to your destination both quickly and safely. Charlie might have a heart attack at my driving, but I had a meeting to get to and a Starbucks to hit up before work.

I ordered myself a tall, vanilla latte with skim milk and a shot of hazelnut - I needed something sweet. I also picked up a double shot espresso and a caramel latte with extra foam, they were for Alice and my co-worker - and Alice's resident crush - Jasper Whitlock. She had been mooning over him since before I had even started working at the firm, he was either blind or an idiot. Sometimes I saw Jasper looking at her though, really looking and it gave me hope that my best friend had a chance.

I gave up on love for myself in law school, all the arrogant almost-lawyer men. They were either in it for the money, the title or even if - by chance - they did give a crap about helping people, they were too into their own careers to care about anything but sex.

I hit the town after graduating, hoping to prove my original theory of men wrong. But sadly, no I was right. Every man - or at least every man that was interested in _me_ - felt perfectly fine with a 'casual hook up' or 'no strings attached sex', of course they never tell you that until it's already happened.

You go through the primping and preening, you buy a new dress, you go through the awkward 'do we hug or do we handshake' greeting. He wines and dines you, asks you out again and again and makes it seem like you are all he is interested in within that moment. You let your guard down and invite him in for 'coffee' and we all know where that would end up leading...He says he'll call, though he doesn't say when - Why don't they ever say when? - You don't hear from him for about a week, and then on a Wednesday night you get a booty call...I'm not saying that _all_ men are like this, I know that there are good guys out there. The entire problem is that none of them come _my_ way.

The romantic, serenading, _Mr. Darcy_ types were over at a windowsill reading poetry to the girl that still believed in fairy tales.

I had seen too many frogs to believe that I had a prince out there for me. I wasn't that girl. When other girls were little, they wanted to be princess' and to live in a big castle, I just wanted to be independent and free, I wanted to be _not_ my mother. I had given up on the whole institution of love for myself a while ago.

My parents had never been the shining example for me when it came to a stable relationship, they divorced when I was five so I didn't remember much about their marriage, but I did know that it left my dad heart broken. So much so, that I had never seen him with a woman or had been in a serious relationship since. He still kept their wedding photo, right next to the photo of me dressed as a butterfly on my fourth birthday. I didn't want to end up like that, I wasn't sure my heart could take it.

My father never dated a woman seriously after my mother, or even dated at all. If he did, I never met them. My mother had the opposite problem.

She got over my dad with Mark, then she broke up with Mark. She got over Mark with Tom, then he cheated on her. She got over Tom with Lincoln, then she kicked him to the curb after a month...I think you get the picture. My entire childhood consisted of watching a revolving door full of uncaring men come and go, giving promises of love and a happy future to get into her bed, then would run out the door at the first sign of trouble.

It was always the same story with her; Find a reasonably attractive man, have him woo her with good food and whispered flirtations, tell them about her daughter and if they didn't head for the hills at that, she would all but ask them to move in. I can remember more than one time where I was eating my cereal at the kitchen table and a man with more muscle than brains would come sneaking out of her bedroom, trying to pull his pants up while closing the door quietly.

My mother had always depended too highly on having someone to take care of her, when it wasn't a man it was me. I had always been the mother in our relationship. I was the one that would remind her to pay the bills and put gas in the car, I wiped her eyes when she cried from a broken heart, I was the one that stood proudly at her side when she married her new husband Phil, I was even there to hold her hand when she gave birth to my step brother, Jacob.

Don't get me wrong, she was a good provider. She owned a hair salon in Phoenix until she moved to Florida with Phil, she made sure I had the best clothes and the best education. When I got into Stanford, she pooled all of her resources with Charlie so I wouldn't drown in college loans. But it was the truth that our relationship was backwards.

Shaking my head, I forced the thoughts from my head. Work was not the place for reminiscing. I stepped onto the elevator, in front of one the offices assistants Jessica. She was a little shorter than me, with newly platinum blond hair - She changed it from an unnatural red in December. Jessica looked like she lived in a _forever21_, with a full arm of gold bangles that would clang loudly with every move she made, it was her signature and you could always tell when she was coming. I'm not sure what perfume she wore, it wasn't terrible but it was _sickly_ sweet, too much like candy for a full grown woman.

I chose to breathe through my mouth to avoid the scent when the doors of the elevator opened. I hopped off and headed in the direction I knew my friends would be. I spotted Jasper at Alice's desk, she was peering up at him shyly. _Get a freaking clue dude, she likes you._

Even though she didn't have her own office like Jasper and I did, she was lucky enough to be in a small but wide hallway just off of my own and the head of the departments offices, so she wasn't disturbed very often. Alice was the assistant to the both myself and my superior, in this company you shared an assistant between two people.

"Coffee?" I asked. It may seem weird that I would get a coffee for my assistant - Usually it would be the other way around - But Alice and I were the best of friends, so that was how I viewed it.

Alice's eyes lit up immediately. "Oh, you do love me."

I smiled. "Don't rub it in." I joked. I passed them both their drinks of choice and sat on the edge of her desk.

"T.G.I.F?" Jasper asked.

I nodded. "Always." I stated simply, smiling slightly at my friend.

We all chitchatted about the weekend a little, Jasper had a friend from law school moving here to Seattle from another company and was helping him move into his apartment tomorrow. Alice was getting a manicure. My own plans involved laundry and trying in vain to change Emmett's plans of night clubbing with me; I was his wing-woman.

"Bella." I turned my head towards the voice. It was Rosalie, the manager of the mediation department and my boss. I worked mostly in cases like child support, and prenuptial agreements but would sometimes be thrown an elder care case or help with an adoption. I loved what I did. She was walking up the hall to me, I was easy to find at this time in the morning.

I stood up from my spot on the desk. "Yes Rosalie?"

She halted her steps toward me, gesturing for me to move in her direction. When we had taken a few steps away, she spoke. "There will be two men coming in at ten with the documents for the Colette case, I need you to get them - They will be given to Alice originally - and take them to your friends at Oxland. It's a sealed case and I need them to break it."

Sealed notaries were tough to crack, and required special attention as they concerned people. Rosalie often used my connections at the notary office to get around things. At least I knew my job was secure.

I nodded. "I'll do my best Rosalie. Now if you excuse me-" I spoke to Alice too. "-Jasper and I have a meeting in 5 minutes." I checked my watch to be sure. Rosalie nodded and left for her office.

I went to my own office, setting down my things. I took my laptop from my briefcase and walked a little faster than I should have in my heels to my meeting. It was the same as it usually was, legal documents here, litigation problems there. I took notes where necessary and spoke up when I had a point to add.

At about 12:30, I heard a knock at my office door. "Come in." I said, not bothering to look up from what I was typing on the computer.

The door opened. "Hey Bells, Lunch?" It was Alice.

I looked at the time on my computer, I had been so involved with my work, I hadn't even realized that I was hungry.

"What about Jasper?" A few times a week, they would go to lunch together. Alice would insist that it was casual, that he never once tried to make a move on her.

She shrugged. "He's meeting his friend at his new place, something about a car not being ready to pick up or something...I wasn't really listening." She looked like she should have but dropped the ball.

I laughed lightly at her face, chances are she was too absorbed in his cool blue eyes and southern accent to make out anything he said. "Sushi?" I asked, standing up from my seat. She nodded, clapping and jumping up and down dramatically. Jasper hated sushi, so she usually only got to eat it when I was with her.

~"~"~"~

"So, when does he start?" Jessica and Lauren may have been the biggest gossips in the office, but Alice came in close after them.

Jasper's old friend - Who's name I still hadn't learned, Alice just called him _"Jazz's lawyer friend"_ - had landed a job at our firm. He was some hot shot from Chicago and apparently was an over-achiever in the law world, which was something to say considering that we were all over-achievers. It was why we all became lawyers in the first place; Some may say it's to help people, and that's true, but winning was a rush. Even for those of us that didn't go to court often.

Alice placed the large, white napkin onto her lap. "Monday."

That was soon. "That early?" I took a sip of the glass of water on the table.

She nodded. "Yeah. Apparently he's like, a workaholic or something." Weren't we all? I adored my job, but I would have waited a week to get my place in order. I couldn't come home to a mess.

Alice ordered the Hokkigai and I got Hamachi. We ate in a comfortable silence, making a comment about our meals every now and again. My friendship with Alice was easy, we talked a lot but there was no awkward silences when we didn't.

The day progressed the way any Friday did for me, I had a meeting after lunch with a client, spent time going through documents and organizing my filing cabinet. My role here was much less about going to court and more along the lines of settling in a room. I usually only went to court every other month or so.

At 6.00pm, people were putting on their coats, switching of their computers and turning off the lights of their offices. I had been very productive today and got a lot of work done, so I decided to get away and start my weekend fresh. I grabbed my coat from the chair it was draped over, stuffed my laptop and some papers I needed to sign off on into my briefcase, and pulled my purse over my shoulder.

I noticed that Alice had obviously already left as I walked down the hall. The elevator was inevitably packed as it always was at this time of the day, but thankfully I wasn't stuck smelling Jessica's way-too-sweet perfume. Rosalie and I nodded to each other as we went in opposite directions toward our cars, I noticed a worker spraying someone's initials into the tilted cement at the front of a sweet parking spot. _E.C_. It must be Jaspers friend.

The traffic had me frustrated on the drive home to my apartment, rush hour was a particular bane in my usually easy existence. I trudged up the stairs to my apartment, daydreaming about the left over Chinese food from last night.

"_Honey_, I'm home." I said, with a large amount of exaggeration in my voice.

Emmett walked out the kitchen, eating an egg roll. "Oh, the man of the house if home. Let me fix you some dinner and get you a beer." He said, in a high pitched, 'girly' voice. Emmett swept his hand in the direction of our dark brown, leather couch.

"Put your feet up dear, would you like a foot rub?" He batted his eyelashes like a 50's woman in a vacuum commercial. What was he doing here?

Deciding not to question it - He had a key and would often let himself in for food - I took a few steps toward him. "You take care of me." I flopped down on the couch, throwing my purse and briefcase next to me.

Alice came in from the hall a few moments later, in a purple cocktail dress and bare feet.

"Where are you going?" I asked, to both of them. I noticed that Emmett had dressed up from his usual personal trainer outfit. He flopped down next to me.

"_We_ are going to the new club in Belltown. _Checkers_, I think it's called...I need some new tail." _Tail?_ Emmett was the sweetest person in the world and completely respectful towards people, but he seemed to think that I like it when he spoke _locker room talk_ around me.

Emmett was what you would call - How do I put this delicately? - a horny, _always_ in heat man whore. He had gone through so many women in my time in Seattle alone, I didn't know if there were even any left. He liked to call a club his own for a few months, but would move on to another as soon as he would continually see the same women there.

I shook my head, bending ungracefully to slip off my heels. "Em, I had a long week..." I stated, in lieu of a _no_.

"Come on Bells, I need my wing-woman..." I may have had the pout that ruled over people, but he had the puppy dog eyes.

I sunk back into the couch in defeat. "You're buying my breakfast tomorrow." He smiled in triumph. "I always do." At least I could spend my whole weekend doing laundry, maybe even get a facial...

Emmett said that he'd like to leave by 9:00 pm, so I was able to take my time getting ready. I microwaved the Chinese food I had been anticipating and scarfed it down quickly with a glass of apple juice. I brushed my teeth swiftly to rid myself of the possible bad breath and proceeded to get dressed.

Unable to pull a ton of information from Emmett regarding the setting of the club, and Alice didn't know where we were going either, all he said was "_It's ritzy Bells"_, so that was all I had to work with. I walked into my closet and stared at the dresses for a few moments, but I shook my head at them.

I pulled out a pure cotton and extremely soft, royal blue top to wear. It was V-necked, and had long sleeves. I decided to pair it with a high waisted, black bandage skirt that clung to every curve I had down there. I was going for sultry but simple. I took off my watch and bracelet that I was wearing, but left on the earrings I had in.

I wasn't the girl that tried too hard, I like clothes and looking put together and pretty, but I wasn't the type to dress to a man's needs or to grab a man's attention. I dressed sexy when I felt sexy, I dressed comfortably when I wanted to be comfortable.

Deciding on my go-to patent, black peep-toed pumps, I stepped into them and moved onto do my makeup and hair. I quickly ran a brush through my hair, it was mostly straight naturally and with the hair straightener I used this morning, it kept it looking nice. I applied a little more powder and a little more blush, before simply bumping up my makeup from today by adding a little bit of an aubergine color across the eyeliner and a smooth grey-ish brown into the crease to smoke it out. I kept the lips a nude-pink color.

"Bells, you ready?" Emmett queried, leaning against my door-jam.

I was currently pulling several items from my purse and tossing them into a black leather clutch that I spent way too much money on. "Just about." I swiftly donned a spray of my signature perfume, fluffed my hair one more time and walked out the door with my friends.

Emmett helped me get into the long, black coat I chose to wear this evening and we headed out. Alice had already called a cab, so it was there as we were walking out.

The place itself was lovely. Checkers was a high end, polished bar with a nice sized dance floor and young professionals at every turn. It even still had the new paint smell to it.

We ordered a drink each; A beer for Emmett, a straight vodka with blue cheese olives for me, and Alice had an apple martini. Emmett kept an eye out on all the women that passed us while we chatted, and he updated Alice and I on his work life. I was unable to talk much about my own work, confidentiality and all that. But I did tell him what I could and he always sat there interested.

"So, you both have gotta stop meeting me for lunch at the gym." He said, swirling his beer around it the bottle.

I looked at him confused. "Why?" Alice asked. Did he not like us coming to see him? I would visit him more often than Alice, she spent some of her lunches with Jasper so mine were free and I was one of those people that actually liked leaving my desk to eat.

He shook his head, reading her expression. "No, I like having lunch with you guys but we need to meet at a place or something." He sighed and continued. "The guys I train keep asking me about you two. I've got numbers up the wa-zoo! _Can you get me an in with the short one? The brunette is gorgeous, I'll pay you double if you give her my number._" I laughed.

This would happen every now and again. Testosterone fuelled men see a pretty lady walk into a gym that woman don't usually use...It happens. If they had clout and good pull in the gym, Emmett would ask me or Alice to go out with them as a favor. We were good friends so I would usually say yes. Alice refused, she wanted to keep herself open for Jasper.

Alice may have been keeping herself open for Jasper, but she liked to dance and a cute brunette guy asked her to accompany him onto the dance floor for a boogie. So it was just me and Emmett, _the tramp and his wing-woman_.

"Mmm. The ginger, the ginger...?" Emmett pointed in the direction of a redhead with short hair, a black dress and a _'come hither'_ smile.

I shook my head. "She's got crazy eyes, you would end up chained and wearing leather while she let her twenty cats watch her voyeuristically."

Emmett's eyes went wide. He had some pretty interesting experiences with women in the past, so he learned with time to trust my judgement on this. One lady had a fetish for feet, feet gross Emmett out. Another had the tendency to lick up his nose. Emmett had no problem at all regaling me with stories I really didn't want to hear of him.

Eventually he found a non threatening African American lady to dance with and was off in a second. I got to spread out a little on the booth we were sitting at with his absence, the boy took up a lot of room.

I shook my head at my friend with a smile. He certainly knew how to turn lemons into naked women. I proceeded to take my time with my drink, watching it swirl around as I moved the little black straw.

"Bells!" I turned my head up in the direction of the shouting voice, it was mostly drowned out by the music. I spotted Alice coming in my direction, pulling someone along with her. "Jazz." I said smiling, adding a small wave in greeting.

He smiled, sneaking a glance at Alice before looking back at me. "Howdy Bella, enjoying the evening?" I nodded, tilting my head in the direction of my large man child of a friend, Emmett was all but eating the poor girls face now, yet I didn't feel sorry for her. She chose her fate. "He chose his quarry for the night." He laughed lightly at my statement, Jasper worked out at Emmett's Gym. They weren't what you would call _friends_ but they would engage in small talk as they did know each other through Alice and I on a friendly level.

Turning back to the people in front of me, I only just noticed a figure slightly behind Jasper. How I missed him, I'll never know.

Yowza. The man was tall, wearing a grey button down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had the most unique shade of hair, bronze-brownish that was tousled perfectly. And his eyes...Even in the club, they were the most beautiful emerald green. He was beautiful.

"Oh, Bella this is Edward Cullen. Edward, Bella is actually a lawyer at the firm." Jasper spoke loud enough for us all to hear.

The man. _Edward_. Edward spoke finally. "Bella. It's lovely to meet you, I look forward to working with you." He smiled. _Gosh, I think I just ovulated._

They all took a seat at the booth with me, Jasper and Alice bundled quite closely together. Edward was directly across from me. We made small talk for a while, but my eyes would drift toward him every now and again. No. He was my co-worker. I couldn't have these feelings, I _never_ had these feelings. Ever.

_Several hours onward._

"I love the cold wind!" Alice shouted cheerfully, skipping lightly as we left the club. We had all gotten very drunk. Presently, Alice was practically dancing down the street, Jasper keeping up with her easily with his naturally long strides.

Edward and I had gotten closer as the night got older and we drank more alcohol. Normally, I would never be so outwardly friendly to a complete stranger - Polite? Yes. But not act like I had known him for more than the few hours I _had_ known him.

We had also gotten increasingly more flirty with each other as the night progressed. When I was more sober, I batted his subtle flirtations away with ease; I was an expert at that. But his good looks and sweet words were starting to get to me in the worst way. We work together, or we would at least.

Somehow we ended up at Edward's place, but by this point I couldn't make heads or tails of anything in reality. We all drank down a bottle of wine that Edward happened to have in his kitchen and I started to feel my eyes getting heavier, and heavier.

~"~"~"~

The scent of Butterscotch, clean linen and wine hit my lungs as the greyish light of the sun hit through the window. I was about to roll over, my exposed arm was feeling the chill of the biting air of morning. But I felt a weight around my waist that was keeping my tired limbs from moving with ease.

_Weight?_ I surveyed my surrounding quickly. Dark blue, almost black sheets were what were keeping me warm...My own sheets were _white._

I jolted quickly at the fright, sucking in breath of the cold air that felt sharp on my lungs. I suddenly started to feel the weight of last nights drinking, I was dehydrated and a little woozy. I felt stirring next to me, in my drowsy state I gave my clothes a quick check and sighed in relief. They were still on.

I knew what it would have meant if they weren't. I wasn't new to the one night stand thing, but Edward was going to be my co-worker and furthermore he was a lawyer...Edward. Crap. If we didn't sleep together, then why was I in - what I assume to be - his bed?

I heard him grumble sleepily next to me. "Lie back down, you're warm." He said, he voice was wonderfully tantalizing in it's grogginess. Stop that.

I ignored his request. "Edward?"

He looked up at me. "Hmm?" Was his half-assed response. "What am I doing here?" My head was foggy, I could remember leaving the club and then...Foggy.

"You passed out on my couch at about 3am, Jasper and Alice were still up and offered to get you home but...We were all so drunk. And I had a feeling they weren't going back to your and Alice's place and if they were-" I finished his sentence for him. "-I wouldn't want to be there." Alice got laid?

Edward rolled over onto his back, I noticed that he had changed into a thin grey t-shirt. I tried not to stare. If he had on a change of clothes then maybe I had time to put mine back on...

"We didn't have sex." Edward said, as if he had just read my thoughts.

"What?" I said, not sure if I was confused with his answer or just confused in general.

I smiled lightly. "We didn't have sex. You were pretty out of it for the most part, I carried you to my bed, got changed, climbed in too and went to sleep."

"That's all?" I queried, I couldn't help but be sceptical. I found it hard to believe that a guy could just so easily sleep next to a girl that he had no trouble flirting with.

He sat up, he was taller than me so we didn't reach eye level. "Is that all you want to know?" He said to me like I was a child, the bastard thought that demeaning me would make us friends? I didn't answer him, I just stared and waited for him to continue.

"You came on to me." He said simply, a smirk lighting his face again. Only now it was like a flame, a flame that pierced through my eyes and made me want to shiver. I imagined that this was the look he gave to a guilty suspect while proving them to be culpable. I was waiting for this to happen, the lawyer in him to show. It was only a matter of time. That smile showed me what I needed to know about him.

I was outraged. I could not have, no man has ever passed up me coming on to them before, even drunk. If I did hit on him then we would both be naked right now.

"I did no such thing!" I didn't have to shout at him, but my defensive side was getting the better of me.

Edward laid back, his arms under his head. "You did. We kissed. I liked it. But I stopped it."

"You _stopped it_?" I remarked incredulously.

"Yes. After a while."

"Why?" I asked, though I wasn't sure why. Curiosity hitting me like a wrecking ball.

He looked up at me. "Why did I stop you?"

"No. Yes. No." I sighed in frustration "I'm just tired and confused and you're my _co-worker_ and I really don't need this." I shook my head at myself.

"Bella, stop." He held my arm firmly, stopping me from leaving the bed. He looked at me directly in the eye. "I think we got extremely drunk and took advantage of the fact that we're attracted to each other. It could have been worse..." A glint appeared in his eye as he was looking at me.

I could not let him have the upper hand. Men seemed to think that once attraction was acknowledged, bedding each other would be imminent. I was not about to be that girl, I hadn't been that girl in so long. I wasn't the bright eyed romantic girl any more, and giving the way I was raised by my mother I'm not sure I ever was.

"Attracted? Who said I was attracted to you?"

"Isn't it obvious? I saw the way you were looking at me, now I'm nothing if not professional in the workplace I assure you but-"

I didn't even hear most of what he just said, but continued. "No, like you said we were drunk. End of story."

I got up without another word, not sure where my shoes had gone but they weren't in his room. I wandered into the living room and spotted them, also grabbing my clutch in the process. "You're leaving?" Edward asked, rubbing his hand through his messy hair as he walked into the room.

"Yeah, I need to get home." What else did he expect? "Look I think we got off on the wrong foot-"

He interrupted me. "I don't think so, granted it was an unconventional way to meet a colleague-" It was my turn to interrupt him "Exactly. You start work on Monday."

"It doesn't have to be a problem." He said. Of course not, men somehow had a way of being able to compartmentalize their feelings. It's probably why so many CEO's had affairs with their secretaries.

"Can we...I don't know, can we just pretend that this never happened? Like, we met at the bar but went our separate ways home?" I had to ask.

He sighed. "Is that really what you want to do?" he looked at me through his eyelashes. If I hadn't have known better, I would have sworn that he looked almost sad at this. "Yes." I said simply.

Edward's chin turn up slightly and his face turned blank for a moment. A split second that I barely even caught because it was replaced so quickly by a smile. "That's fine. You'll be Miss Swan and I'll be Mr. Cullen."

He sounded so nonchalant and distant about it, but it _was_ what I had asked for. "Okay." I raked my hands through my hair, sorting the rest of things together. I donned my coat and put on my shoes, ready to do the walk of shame.

I trudged to the door, pausing as I had remembered my manners. I turned back, hoping he was still there. He was. "Thank-you. For taking care of me last night, thank-you." I smiled slightly thanks, still embarrassed that I hadn't said it sooner. To be fair he was acting like an asshole...

The warm smile was back, just like when we had first met. "You're welcome Bella. Miss Swan."

Not wanting to give him any more reason to be arrogant again, I turned back and headed home, ignoring the way my taxi driver was looking at me. _Like he hadn't seen this a hundred times before, I'm sure he had driven one of Emmett's cast off's home in the past._

"Alice?" I called as I walked in the door of our home.

"Bells?" A croaky voice called from the kitchen.

I smiled, someone had a later night than me. "Hey kid, have fun?" I said walking into the kitchen, heading straight to the fridge for a glass of water. "Yes!" She whisper shouted as I got there.

"Bow-Chicka-Wow-Wow! Someone got_ laid_!" I couldn't help myself.

She pulled me over to her. "Shhh! Be quiet, Okay? you'll wake-"

"-Hey, Darlin' is this your robe? it was in the bathro- oh hey Bella..." Jasper was now standing in our kitchen, in all his glory, hair scruffy...In _my_ robe.

Alice laughed awkwardly. "Ahh, no."

"Oh." Was all he said, he was suddenly very pink.

I needed to get out of this awkward situation, pronto. "You keep it. Cream's your color. I'll be in my room." Directing my gaze to anywhere but his long, hairy legs, I all but ran up the hall to my bedroom.

Shutting the door, I peeled myself out of my clothes and into a warm set of Pyjamas before falling into my well made bed. I snuggled in my sheets for an hour or so, knowing that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep.

My door opened slightly a little while later, followed by a light knock. "Bella?" Alice's timid voice floating in from the hallway.

"Come in Ali."

She shuffled in and promptly plopped down onto my bed, her head resting on the pillow next to me. "So..." She started, her eyes shifting from side to side.

"Yes, so..." I agreed.

"It wasn't a mistake. He said_ 'It was unplanned, but a happy surprise'_. He actually _said_ that." She smiled. I was happy for her, she had wanted this for a while...And hadn't had sex in a good six months. "He asked me to dinner tonight."

I returned her smile. "That's awesome." That was all that needed to be said between us.

"So how about your night?" I groaned.

I didn't really know what to say. "Uh, we slept."

"Really?"

"What did you expect?" Did she think that I was going to sleep with Edward?...Well I guess, _different circumstances_. If he wasn't about to be my co-worker, I'd be upside down and halfway to happy town right now with him. Getting my full worth of him, before skipping out while he was sleeping.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a slut. I don't go out every weekend like Emmett looking to hook up, but I was a woman and we had needs too. I just didn't believe in getting all tangled up in complicated feelings, it worked for others but I wasn't sure I was built that way, at least not at my age. My mother didn't find Phil until several years ago.

She shrugged. "I don't know, you guys just seemed..." She didn't finish her sentence.

Alice left me to go take a shower, and I managed to get a nap in. But my sleep was broken, I couldn't help but think of what would happen on Monday.

Nothing technically happened last night, but my foggy brain was remembering little bits of last night and even though we only kissed, we were _close_ all night. What was I supposed to say to him on Monday?_ "Hello man I made out with and that spooned with me in my sleep, Welcome to the firm! And by the way, you smell really good."_ Not likely.

I hated this, but I think I needed to speak with him again. Would he even want to speak with me? I wasn't sure what his role in the firm would be, or how closely we would have to work together.

_What did I do to deserve this?_

* * *

**Songs for this chapter were _'Songbird'_ by _Matt Corby_ and _'Sweater Weather'_ by _The Neighbourhood._**


	2. Chapter 2

_**I don't own twilight...If I did...**_

* * *

_"A quarrel is quickly settled when deserted by one party; there is no battle unless there be two." - Lucius Annaeous Seneca_

**Chapter 2**

Monday came quicker than I had hoped that it would. I spent my weekend throwing myself into housework. I did the laundry like I wanted, I mopped, vacuumed, cleaned out the fridge, went grocery shopping and made my bed with clean sheets. I did all I could to keep myself from thinking of the coming Monday and what it meant.

I'm enough of a grown up to admit that in hindsight, I'd overreacted. But only a little. I didn't know Edward Cullen from a hole in the ground, so I can't apologize completely for my reaction to waking up next to him.

So I stayed sullen and uncommunicative for the next couple of days, Alice was too preoccupied with Jasper to notice and my brunch with Emmett on Sunday morning proved to me that he was as unobservant as I thought he was.

_"So then she was like, 'I'm still a virgin' and I was like 'No way, you don't blow like a-" _

_"Emmett!" I whisper yelled. "Too. Much. Volume." We were in our favorite cafe, Emmett and I had been coming here as long as we had known each other so it wasn't unusual for the staff to hear him talk loudly, but I didn't want to disturb the other customers. _

_He looked around, hoping that people hadn't heard. He had no problem bragging to me and his gym buddies, but he was rather bashful in public. It was cute. "Sorry Bells." _

_"It's okay Em, just..." I circled my hand around in the air, gesturing for him to watch the people in the room. He just nodded and started eating again._

_A benefit to being his wing-woman was that I always ended up with a free meal. We liked to chat over coffee and waffles after he found a conquest and who was I to pass up a free meal from a friend?_

Emmett and I had a simple relationship, purely platonic but with a lot of love. I met him in my first year of law school, I had just moved back from Stanford and was a little lost. I didn't know anyone yet and the only reason I moved to Seattle was because Charlie had a minor heart attack a few weeks before I graduated from college and I wanted to be closer to him.

I was in a little cafe - Coincidentally the cafe that Emmett and I frequent for brunch - and was being relentlessly hit on by a balding man that smelled like dry toast and whisky. Emmett pretended to be my brother to get me away from him.

Emmett never hit on me when we met, nor did he go for Alice either after I introduced them. Which was big, considering he would hit on anything that moves and had boobs. He once had a younger sister - Katie - but she passed away when they were young. Emmett is a few years older than Alice and I, so a part of me thought that he saw something in us that reminded him of her, or maybe he just had unused 'big brother' feelings that needed to be released. Either way I was happy to have him in my life, though he didn't really help with the _men are selfish and want nothing but sex_ thing. He was a sweetheart and a goof-ball to me, but he was quick to lose a lady when he got bored and he made no apologies for that. I think it is one of the reasons why we lasted as friends, sure he whored around and used women, but they did it willingly and he never treated them like objects.

He never gave them a promise for anything more than a good time.

Speaking of Alice, she had gone on her first date with Jasper on Saturday...And I didn't see her again until Sunday afternoon. I think it's safe to say that the honeymoon phase had began in full swing.

She spent all of Saturday morning getting ready, she had a mini heart attack when she couldn't get her hair how she wanted. She ran out to _Victoria Secret_ to be prepared and even had me do her makeup. Fashion was her thing, makeup was mine.

I was currently sitting at my vanity, curling rollers were setting in my hair. I was taking my time with my makeup, using neutral shades that complimented my brown eyes, adding a line of black on my top lids.

I woke up early to get ready for today, I was treating it almost like a job interview. Alice tried to convince me that Edward was nothing to be worried about, but she wasn't the one that woke up being spooned by him...Co-workers don't do that usually, especially when they only met on the same night.

I had decided on wearing my favorite black suit, the jacket was tailored and ran at my waist flatteringly and the pencil skirt was high waisted and fitted enough to show my curves but sat at my knees as not to be inappropriate for work. I paired the suit with a white flowy shirt that looked nice tucked under the skirt and a small black leather belt around my waist.

I'll admit the reason for my extra primping and preening today was in large part due to Edwards arrival, but not for the typical reasons.

It wasn't to attract him further, I wanted to intimidate him. Professional woman earned as much as $8000 less than men in a year, so it was important to stake your claim and assert your worth. Edward would see me as his equal, not the pretty brunette woman that made out with him when we were drunk.

I also wanted to get a sense for his character, I had gotten a glimpse of it on Friday but a lot of it involved alcohol, and then we were both hungover and tired. I would give him the benefit of the doubt, I wanted to make Friday non existent, to introduce myself to him properly; Not to be the friend of a friend who made a good drunken make out buddy.

For all I knew, the arrogance he showed in his face could have been a fluke. I didn't think so, but I wanted to be sure.

Unrolling my hair from the curlers, I ran a comb through the delicate curls and spritzed a little hairspray as well. "Bells." Alice called loudly.

I got up, assuming that she would be in her room. I didn't bother knocking as I walked into her bedroom. "You bellowed?" I said with a smile, leaning my frame against the door-jam.

Alice's room looked like a bomb had hit it, there were clothes everywhere. Alice had her hair in a towel and was in the cream robe that was formally mine but had jaspers junk rubbed against it the night that he stayed here.

"You guys have already been on a date. _And_ he knows how you dress for work." I didn't understand her.

She raised her arms in frustration. "It didn't matter what I wore on the date, I knew I'd be taking it off! But this is a professional environment and he needs to see me as more than his sex monkey, I'm a proficient woman in the business world." Wait, _Sex monkey?_ I wasn't about to ask what _that_ was about...

I couldn't complain, I spent all of yesterday evening contemplating what to wear. "Normally, it's me coming to you for fashion advice..."

"I know, and you do my makeup - Speaking of which, I need you to do my eyeliner, you know I suck at it - I realize the irony, but this is Jasper...I've liked him for so long, I don't want to screw it up." In Alice's world, a less-than-perfect outfit was screwing up somehow so I decided to give her this one.

"Okay." I started. "What do you always say about my coloring?"

"What does that have to-"

I lifted my hand, silencing her. "Answer the question."

She sighed, "You look the best in black and jewelled colors, the complete opposite of me - Hey! That actually helped." She grinned, her eyes bright with surprise.

"Thank-you." I said dryly before continuing. "Yes and what is the opposite?" I laughed out.

"White and pastel colors, thank-you." She went straight to a lovely pastel floral dress, it had a high neckline and was short sleeved, the skirt of it flowed from the waist.

"Thanks Bells." She said as I was leaving her room. "Anytime." I said, closing her door behind me. It took my mind off of things for a moment.

I finished getting ready, I also read the online news and savored my coffee. I wasn't normally a procrastinator but I couldn't help myself within the moment. Deciding not to delay the inevitable anymore, I trudged to my car and headed to work.

The one day I wasn't looking forward to going to work just happened to be the one day when there was virtually no traffic. Just my luck. I made it to the elevator and thankfully it wasn't packed.

I ignored the looks as I swiftly paced to my office, shutting the door behind me. I hadn't seen the certain someone as I walked there and I was thankful for it. I had imagined hundreds of different conversation to prepare myself but my heart was beating a mile a minute just thinking of it now. I really needed to relax, it really wasn't a big deal, not _really_.

I was completely aware that I was blowing everything out of proportion, but just thinking of that smug smile he gave me when I was still in his bed had me wanting to smack it right off.

A swift three raps of my door had me almost drop my coat before I could put it over my desk chair.

_Oh please, don't be him._

"Come in." I said, trying to cover the nerves in my voice.

Rosalie came in, thankfully. "Bella, meeting in ten minutes to introduce the new employee to everyone. In meeting room three."

"Oh, okay I'll get ready." I smiled at her as she turned to leave. I puffed out a breath as the door closed. How would I go about this?

I chose to play it by ear. I didn't bother turning on my computer, I spent the minutes staring at my shoes. _Don't make a big deal of it Bella, I'm sure he probably barely remembers you._

Taking a deep breath in, I decided to put on my big girl panties and face him again. I walked without thought to meeting room three, smoothing out my suit jacket in the process. I immediately noticed Alice and practically jogged over to her. "He's not here yet."

"What?"

"_Mr. Cullen_. Mr. Hale is giving him a tour." Which _Mr. Hale_ she was referring to, I didn't bother to ask.

Mr. Hale Sr. was an average heighted, slightly balding man, he was extremely professional but liked to joke around a bit. He would often make jokes in the middle of a meeting and most of the time it would lighten the mood and make people laugh. His son however was the complete opposite.

Paul Hale Jr. was just as professional as his father, but lacked the benevolence needed to be marked as an altruistic individual like his father. Paul was in it for the title and for the money. He was ruthless to the point of heartless in the way that he worked, to him it was about winning, it had nothing to do with helping people at all.

Rosalie was Mr. Hale's Daughter and the other Mr. Hale's younger sister. Rosalie was beautiful, golden blond hair that was almost as long as mine, grey blue eyes and a '_Californian beauty'_ face. She was a little larger than a typical Californian girl, more like a traditional 50's bombshell. She would be a size 8, maybe a 10. But she was an absolute hardass, nothing went on in this office without her knowing, she wouldn't allow it any other way. She was never mean...Except to Jessica, but Jessica's whiny voice grained on everyone's nerves.

Rosalie always wore a black suit, it changed from day to day, skirt suit to pant suit, a different white blouse everyday. But she kept her look the same; Black suit, white blouse, black Christian louboutin pumps, red lipstick and her hair tied tightly in a polished bun. Being a little larger than the 'standard size zero beauty' didn't make a difference to Rosalie.

Alice and I made small talk for a couple of minutes, I think she sensed that I was a little nervous and kept me talking.

_"And this is my favorite __and the last __meeting room."_ Mr. Hale came waltzing in with the man himself. Grey button down Edward had _nothing_ on Blue suit Edward. I shook the thought out of my head lightly.

I stayed in the back, admittedly being a bit of a coward.

People introduced themselves him one by one, he was the picture of polite. Eventually it was Alice's turn, and of course she pulled me along with her.

"Alice, lovely to see you again."

"You too, I look forward to working with you." They smiled at each other.

Edwards gaze turned to me and the smile dropped the tiniest amount. He released a short breath and closed his eyes for a moment.

The smile reappeared in full when he opened his eyes. Not the smile he gave Alice, the one that seemed to be for me only. "Hello. I'm Edward Cullen." He said politely, acting as if he completely forgot who I was, or that he had never known me before. He reached out his hand to shake.

If that was what he wanted. I returned his smile - No, smirk - Tilting my head up slightly in an almost flirtatious manner to meet his eyes and taking his large hand. "Bella Swan." I said simply, adding to the charade.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Swan."

"The pleasure is all mine Mr. Cullen."

I dropped his hand lightly and sauntered off, not looking back once.

For the next thirty minutes, I conversed with several of my colleagues, discussing our work and local events. Every now and again I would search the room for him, occasionally he would already be looking at me but sometimes - as if he sensed it - Caught my eyes in the same moment I looked, and each time he would give me that same smirk. I didn't know whether to beat it off him or kiss it off him.

I made my way to the beverage table that was set out, feeling exhausted and needing greatly to re-caffeinate myself. "Enjoying the party, Miss Swan?"

I didn't need to turn, I knew who it was "Indeed I am Mr. Cullen, what about you?" I tilted my head to the side, realizing he had moved next to me. "How's the man of the hour?"

"Wonderful, Mr. Hale seems like we will be a great boss. I'm glad Jasper recommended me for the job." His voice softened at the talk of his old friend.

"Everyone talks very highly of you." I walked in the shallow water, not wanting to feed his ego. It had been fed enough today by everyone else.

"I work hard, and I love my job." Was all he said.

I looked around without moving my head for a second, seeing if anyone was looking. They were all absorbed in their own conversation to notice us right now.

"As do I, I'd hate for anything to jeopardize that. For anything to get in the way..."

I left it open for him to answer, and he did. "Of course Bella, I'm nothing if not professional." He smiled before continuing. "The fact that we have a slight past other won't affect my work..." What did that mean? The way he said it...He had a good poker face, it was hard to decipher.

"Nor will it affect mine." I said this a slight hit to my voice. What was he implying? Stupid. Handsome. Asshole. Lawyer.

I shook my head slightly, not wanting to make a scene by losing it. "Look, just be honest with me. Are you going to make work hard for me?" I spoke quietly, this wasn't the place for a full conversation. My armor fell for a split second and I felt it, scolding myself mentally and I hoped that it didn't show physically.

His face changed slightly, it became a little warmer. "Of course not Bella-" He cleared his throat. "-Miss Swan. I'm a confident man, but I don't force myself upon..._anyone_." Again with the confusion. I was beginning to think that cryptic was this guys M.O.

"Thank-you." I gave him that. "I mean, we work in two different areas. What are the chances that we will even see each other that often?" I was thankful for that. I worked civil suits that almost never went to court, he worked in the side that almost _always_ went to court. We might be put on the same case, but hopefully I won't be the only associate working with him at the time.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that." His smile returned, I call it a smile because this time it had a playful edge to it. He was goading me.

It worked. "What does that mean?" I raised my eyebrow.

"Oh, nothing." That cryptic little bastard. I turned on my heel and left without a word, trying to be as natural as possible and not at all dramatic...I only realized moments later that I didn't get myself a coffee, I was too absorbed in our conversation.

The days progressed the way any would. Only now I had a stick up my ass and it's name was Edward Cullen.

I had given myself two options: First, Have another conversation with him, this time alone and explain to him that I just wanted to have peace in my workplace. Pro - I could get on with my work without him in the back of my mind, Con - I would have to see the smug smirk again and I didn't know if I'd be strong enough to not hit him this time. Second option, Ignore him and only talk to him when he spoke to me. Pro - I could avoid him and not get potentially violent, Con - He would remain on my mind and I'd be acting like a child.

Too mentally drained to be able to take him on again for awhile, I chose option two.

~"~"~"~

A couple weeks had passed. I had managed to avoid Edward by getting more involved in my work, I sat away from him in meetings and because our jobs didn't involve us clashing much, I was able to not have to speak to him thus far.

Now, I was aware that this was childish. No question. But the man infuriated me to no end, and I wasn't sure why. Men never got to me, not like he did. Edward Cullen was the most confident, pompous Lawyer I had ever known...Other than Paul, and at least Paul didn't fake charm and charisma. He took pride in not having a heart.

There was no denying that Edward was good at his job, great actually. I often heard Jessica and Lauren gossiping about his achievements, and how Lauren was _so lucky_ to be his new assistant. They were vial things. Poor Jasper had Lauren as his assistant for a while, she was a mix between _grumpy cat_ and _Kim Kardashian_ - Without the ass.

I simply wanted peace in my work place and I knew enough about men to know that Edward being around me would not bring me that. I wanted to slap him silly, but I also wanted to have him throw me on my desk and ravage me to no end...I may or may not have been experiencing dreams of doing either, or both in the past weeks.

It was always the same dreams, I would either staple his head to the wall or have him do me against one. They switched often. I wasn't a complete idiot, obviously I found Edward attractive but I knew what he would do with that kind of information; use it against me.

He was a charmer to everyone, and everyone was caught under his spell. Didn't they see his ego protruding? I couldn't be the only one, right?

Alice was on her lunch break one early afternoon, I had a lot of files that needed to be written into my computer so I spent my own lunch break at my desk. Alice was kind enough to pick me up a salad from the small cafe on the first floor before she left, which I scarfed down immediately.

A quick fews raps on the door had me almost spit out my water in surprise. Alice must have been back from lunch early. "Come in." I didn't bother asking who is was.

"Miss Swan?" My hands froze on the lid of my water bottle. It was Edward.

My head shot up to his figure. "Mr. Cullen." This was the first time we had spoken directly since the welcome party.

He closed the door and started to walk toward me "I was wondering if I could have a moment with you...?"

"Of course, Please sit." I gestured to the seat in front of me. He stayed silent as he sat down.

Once he was seated right in front of me, he spoke again. "I was hoping that we could come to some kind of truce."

"Truce?" I was confused.

"Yes, you are very good at what you do Miss Swan. I think that a lot of good things could happen if we worked together."

"You have a job for me?" I asked incredulously.

He tilted his head slightly to the side, contemplating something. Tilting his head back up, he replied. "There is a tricky situation regarding competency of teaching in a case I have been given. I am to understand that you have connections in the notary office?" Well that was easy enough.

I nodded and opened a drawer, reaching for a business card. I also grabbed a post-it note and wrote down the name and department to ask for. "Here." I passed them both to him. "Here's the number, ask for Doris. She is my connection there and in my opinion, one of the best in the business." Doris was a fifty-something lady that used to work in the Law firm that I interned in way back in Law school.

"Oh, thank-you." Edward said, his brow furrowing. "But I was hoping that you would be my partner in the case."

Huh? "I'm sorry, but why?" I Hedged.

His lip lifted at one side. "Because you're good at what you do." He said it as if it was obvious.

"Uh..." I couldn't think of what to say.

Edward stood. "Think it over and thank-you for this." He gestured to the contacts I gave him.

"Wait." I stopped him from moving to the door. "That's it?" Was he really not going to mention anything else?

He shrugged. "I believe you're referring to the fact that you were ignoring me-"

"-I wasn't." I interrupted, lying.

"Does it really matter? I thought you wanted to keep your distance. You made that perfectly clear."

"I do, I mean yes. I'd like to keep things professional."

He smirked at me. "And I'm giving you what you want. Think about my offer." He left without another word.

I sat and just stared at the door for a few moments, thinking over that had just happened.

He wanted a truce. We wanted me to help him with a case because he admired my work. But there was something about his eyes...No. He wanted the upper hand, the ball was in my court now to approach him and he knew that I would be stupid not to accept being his partner in this. Since getting here, Edward had been given the best cases to put under his belt, it made Paul dislike him greatly.

With me coming to him and accepting his offer, it would be like he won. That could not happen, but I had to accept the case. The clout alone would be good in my file, I could make new connections. I was still new to the game and this opportunity could have me meet even more networking choices. That bastard was an evil genius.

I had a lot of thinking to do and not much time to do it. I needed to talk to a neutral party, but who?

Alice? No way, she thinks I should just sleep with him and get over it. Emmett? No again, he would make fun of me for getting into this mess in the first place. My mother would try to convince me to marry Edward and my dad would shoot him and skin him alive.

I decided to leave the talk I needed until I got home, and kept going on with my work. Jackass Cullen wouldn't affect my work, I wouldn't let him.

Alice had started spending some weeknights at Jaspers apartment, so lately I had had a few nights alone. I loved Alice like a sister but with recent events, it was nice to have some time by myself to think, or even _not_ think in some cases.

As of the last few weeks Alice had been very _Pro Edward_, she was just as charmed by him as everyone else was and was convinced that I should give him the benefit of the doubt. I'm sure he is absolutely lovely...To them. To me he was conceited and over-confident and smug.

I needed to talk this out, but I still didn't know who to call. I picked up my mail and pressed the lit button on my answering machine. I plonked myself down on the couch flipping through and separating my mail from Alice's.

"Bella, this is your mother. You haven't called in a week, what's up with that?" Renee's childlike voice bounced out of the answering machine like a kid that wasn't aloud to play outside because they hadn't eaten their green vegetables. "Anyway, Jacob misses you and wants to visit soon. We can work that out later. Just checking up on you to-"

The answering machine cut out and moved on to the next message. "Oh, silly answering machine!" I laughed at my mothers distant antics. "Well, call me back when you get this and I love you, Mwah Mwah Mwah!" Her exaggerated kissing sounds ending the message.

The next message was for Alice, so I quickly wrote the message down on the envelope of her cell phone bill.

"Hey Bells, it's dad-" Oh, it was nice to hear his voice. We hadn't spoken in a couple of weeks. "Just checking to make sure you're still alive, you're probably still at work or something so I'll call back later. I love you honey." Charlie was a sweetheart, I wish we spoke more often but he and I were both so busy. Being the Police Chief in a small town meant that a lot of the small things were given to you, I admired that he wasn't affected by his work too much.

The next message started. "Bella! It's been so long-" My friend Angela. She lived in San Francisco now with her husband Ben. "-and I've got some news! Call me back when you can. Love you."

Angela, that's it! She was always a great listener. I could hear her good news and we could chat about life, and I could get her advice. I walked to the phone and dialed immediately.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ange."

"Bella!" We chatted for a half hour or so. She was a high school science teacher and loved her job, she regaled me in some of the many mishaps that happened with the puberty patrol and I told her what was going on with me lately.

"It sounds like he likes you."

I shook my head, even though she wouldn't have seen it. "No, he likes to win. Classic Lawyer tactics."

She sighed. "Well, I think you should take the offer. Make a point of saying that it's for the contacts and see where it goes." I thought it through for a moment. She continued. "And you can always get the power back another way later."

"I guess. Thanks Ange."

"No problem." She said with a bright voice.

It made me remember something. "Wait, you said you had news...?"

"Uh, yes. Well...Ben and I are expecting!"

I was ecstatic for her, they had been trying to conceive for over a year now. "That's wonderful! Congratulations...Oh, and I was a schmuck telling you about Cullen when you had real news to tell me."

"Forget about it, it's what friends do." And we were friends, she and I had been since I started at Forks High. I had just moved in my junior year because Renee was going on the road with Phil, everyone wanted to be friends with the new girl but Angela and her husband were the only real friends I had there.

We eventually parted ways and I called my dad, he was doing well. Naturally he was going fishing on the weekend with my godfather, Harry Clearwater. My mother called moments after I got off the phone with Charlie.

The next day, I headed in early. Mentally ready to face Mr. Cullen again. I fixed a stray hair, re-applied my lipstick and straightened my skirt before marching down to his office right on 9:00am.

About to walk past Lauren, she stopped me. "Um, excuse me. Do you have an appointment _Miss Swan?_" The snaggle-toothed viper practically spat.

I didn't have time for this, I needed to speak to him before I lost my confidence. "Call him then please, he'll let me in." I said with an innocent smile.

She narrowed her eyes at me and her slightly over-plucked eyebrows followed. She couldn't insult a superior, so Lauren did as she was told. "Mr. Cullen, Miss Swan is here to see you, Should I let her in?"

I didn't hear what he was saying, but when she got off the phone Lauren looked like she wanted to rip a yard of my intestines out and use them as a jump rope. "Go in." She said, looking back at the paperwork on her desk and pretending to be disinterested. Rude. Alice would _never_ speak to anyone like that. Edward and Jasper should do something about that.

I smiled at her again and left. I knocked lightly, even though he knew it was me. "Come in." His voice called from the other side of the door.

I entered immediately. "Miss Swan, Please sit." I did, keeping quiet hoping to keep my cool no matter what. "Have you thought about my offer?" He queried, his eyes open a little too much to not be feigning innocence.

_Don't get annoyed Bella._ I told myself. "I have, I think given the circumstances..." I drew it out a little to goad him.

Hook, line and sinker. He moved forward a little in his chair, waiting for me to continue. I did a few seconds later. "...That it would be a good idea." I left it at that, letting him make what he would of it.

I wonder whether he knew that by saying yes, I was giving him a test too. Would he think I'd be just another girl that threw something under the rug when given an opportunity. I would interpret where to go from there.

"You're sure?" He asked, his eyes narrowing just a little. Damn, I should have given him more credit, he knew what I was doing.

_Be cool._ "Of course. The connections I could make are plentiful, you have clout as you're a little older than me and have been in the game longer."

"So, you'll use me for my connections?"

"And you'll do the same in return." He did take my connections at the notary office, he even stated that it was one of the reasons I'd be good to work with.

He smiled devilishly. "We'll use _each other_ for our connections?" He corrected himself.

"What else would I want to use you for?"_ Did I really just say that? _I didn't realize what it might have meant until it was already said and I didn't mean it like _that_. Okay, I might have thought about using him as a naked human jungle gym once or twice...

I was attempting to equal our standing again, and he knew it. Instead of scowling like I hoped he would, he just smirked that smirk again and ignored the last comment. Damn him. "Wonderful. I'll have Lauren send you the files shortly."

"That's fine." I stood from where I was sitting. "It was a pleasure talking to you Mr. Cullen." I said pointedly.

We'd been in this place before. "The pleasure is all mine Miss Swan." He said while standing. He raised his hand to mine to shake, I took it quickly and then started to leave.

"I look forward to working with you Miss Swan." Edward said as I was beginning to walk away. I walked out with more stomp to get away sooner.

In my plotting, I had forgotten one fatal flaw. Working with Mr. Cullen meant having to spend time with him. I might actually have ended up strangling him by the end of it.

"Crap." I said once I was safely back in my office.

I was fast, I learned to be as a lawyer. But he was faster and it drove me crazy. I needed to think of something to get him back for it, but nothing seemed..legal? I mean _appropriate_...

Lauren brought me in the files an hour or so later, and gave me the mother of all sour faces. The case was about a teacher, she apparently would lock her students in a broom closet for timeout when they misbehaved and had even resorted to not letting them eat their lunch during recess. She was a tenure employee at the private elementary school which would be tricky but some of the teachers are saying that she's not in her right mind.

I will admit that Edward set things up wonderfully, he had made good, concise research. I never doubted that Edward was great at his job, the first thing his smirk reminded me of was a lawyer. But his attitude towards me made my opinion of him bitter than a lemon.

I looked through the notes, writing my own pieces where I felt that they were needed. I had to run to a meeting with Rosalie, so I left them on my desk. I returned about an hour later and continued with it. At about 6:10pm I decided it was time to head home. I added my new file to my briefcase, threw on my coat and slipped into my heels - I often took them off when I was behind my desk. I packed up the rest of my things and headed for the elevator.

Pressing the parking garage floor, I looked down at the ground to collect my thoughts. _Maybe I'll a make stir fry for dinner, I need to use the tomatoes and the Broccoli before they go bad. Add some honey, garlic and basil..._

Lost in my own world, I didn't notice someone on the other side viciously pressing the buttons to re-open the door. It was Edward.

"Oh. Hello Miss Swan."

"Mr. Cullen." I nodded to him.

He stood next to me, we would have been shoulder to shoulder if he wasn't so tall. "Did you have a chance to look at the file yet?" He kept his head to the front, but his eyes were turned to me.

"Yes, it's an interesting case."

"It is, we should meet with each other before the meeting, It's next Friday." A week after tomorrow.

I nodded. "I'll come by your office tomorrow." I didn't know how I felt about him in my office for any length of permanence just yet.

He smile a little, then put up his wall again. "Good, After lunch?"

"Sure, I have a mediation to attend in the morning so the afternoon is perfect."

"Perfect." He agreed.

The elevator _ding_ed and I walked out in front of him. "Goodnight Mr. Cullen." I said walking straight to my car, he kept up.

"Goodnight." His parking spot being closer than mine bugged me more than I wanted it to.

I drove home, got into yoga pants and a sweatshirt and started on dinner. Alice was on the phone to her mother, so I thought it would be best for me to stay in the kitchen.

"Mmm, something smells good." Alice stated, walking into the room with her nose in the air, sniffing.

"Chicken stir fry." I agreed.

She pulled herself up onto the bench next to me. "So, Jasper is coming over for dinner on Saturday..."

I knew where this was going. "And you want me to cook for you?" Alice was useless in the kitchen. Well, not completely useless, she made an awesome cup of coffee.

"Not just cook." She said. "You're welcome to join us."

"How kind of you." I said sarcastically, turning the ingredients in the wok with a wooden spoon.

She sighed. "That really does smell good. And you're such a good cook..." Her voice had an added whine to it.

"Okay Alice." Anything to stop the Fran Drescher impression. "Any requests?"

"Just something meaty for my man." She smiled.

"I'll work on it." I smiled back, her and Jasper were now officially 'boyfriend and girlfriend'. They really cared for each other.

Alice hopped down from the bench - which for Alice required quite a jump - and headed back to the living room.

_"Oh and Edward will be joining us."_ She called from the other room.

What? _Fuck._

* * *

**So...This is Fun. Songs for this chapter are _'Demons'_ by _Imagine Dragons_, _'Sex'_ by _The_ _1975_ and _'The Scientist'_ by _Coldplay._ Take care my lovelies :)**


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